Responding to a post in one of the anti-consumerist groups. Someone who loves cooking and baking on a daily basis, and she & her family are getting ready to move to a much hotter climate.
Here are some of my tips for reducing heat in the kitchen in a hot climate. (And reducing electricity consumption caused by extra AC demand from heating up the kitchen.)
I live in a hot humid climate (coastal Florida) and we never use AC at our house.
But, we are near the ocean and also have good roof overhangs, really good awnings and window covers. Helps a lot!
With or without AC, You are very wise to aim at reducing heat in the kitchen.
I have always found it very helpful to cook outdoors as much as possible. SOLAR OVEN!!
(oops, Just now reread and notice that you were not seeking suggestions to use grill, which I had mentioned initially. Charcoal grill, gas grill — The first thing I thought of)
… BUT — I highly recommend using a solar oven.
It simplifies cleanup as well, cooking outdoors instead of in.
Comments by a number of other people, who bring their toaster oven, hot pot, air pot, or other conventional electric appliances outside to cook in summer are also great suggestions.
Also: I’ve known some people who built or purchased outdoor wood-fired ovens for baking bread and pizza and so on!
There was a big communal outdoor oven at the Kerrville folk music festival in central Texas. It may still be there, has been there for a long time.
Regarding a solar oven: A lot of people aren’t familiar with a solar oven. And yet it is an absolutely wonderful addition to one’s cooking setup.
I’ve used it for everything from beans and rice to baking bread and sometimes even cakes. It doesn’t reach super high temperature is but it’s adequate for a lot of breads and cakes. And the beauty of it is you can leave a box type solar cooker unattended, there is no danger of fire or the food getting burnt.
It’s something you can buy, or DIY. I have been using a solar oven as my regular oven for almost 20 years now! There’s tons of info out there on YouTube etc, and also I write about it a lot on my blog. And there’s a good website solar ovens dot net that shows a lot of the options.
We do have a normal indoor kitchen with regular appliances too, and I use those more in winter. (The very brief winter that we have in my part of Florida.)
There’s also a mode of cooking called haybox cooking, where you start cooking the food on a conventional stove top but then move it to an insulated container where it finishes cooking by itself. Without additional heat. Ends up generating a lot less heat in the kitchen, and using considerably less electricity or other fuel.
Large amounts of information about the above methods are available on youtube etc. And I have written about it on this blog as well.
Another option might be cooking communally with your neighbors. Either taking turns, or dividing tasks. (For example, if you don’t like to grill — Same here, it’s not a skill of mine — but a neighbor of yours might love to. And you could be cooking the beans or making the salad or whatever. And another neighbor makes desert etc. etc. Or just alternate evenings.)
As a bonus, *eating* outdoors in addition to cooking the meal outdoors can save on the indoor AC bill.
Good luck, enjoy your new place and your cooking and baking adventures!